{completed projects}

I have been dying to post these projects....because I'm so thrilled with how they are turning out....and am so glad I've had time to craft. :) I'll start with the laundry room. The room will never be pretty. Thanks to the furnace/hot water heater/etc mess that greets you right as you walk in. I'm fine with that. I know we won't live here forever and someday I can have a pretty laundry room. I just needed it to be more functional. Here is the before picture:

Not a great picture, but you can tell, that poor shelf is busting with stuff.....and if you can imagine how easy it was for Kolbe to get his paws on all of that stuff.....you can see why I needed a change. So we bought some boards and some shelf brackets. I painted both of them a cheery turquoise color to try and make this place less WHITE. And here are the after shots:

Like I said....it's not my dream room, but it will do for now. :)

I've also been trying out some things I've seen on Pinterest. I've seen these flowers everywhere and it turns out they're super easy to make. Now I've got plenty of time to make flowers GALORE for our baby girl to sport on her headbands. I've just used scraps of fabric I had on hand so far, and Mark had some old uniforms that he gifted my little "craft shop".

Can't you just see a little daddy's girl with a camo flower on her headband? My wheels are turning for something to do for Kolbe so he can match. :) I glued one onto one of my headbands, and it doesn't look too bad on a grown up girl, either! I've also been thinking about making a wreath for our door out of the uniforms, too. Stay tuned. :)

My last project was a new flag for our front yard. I used my old ratty one as a pattern, cut the burlap (super cheap), hot glued the top, made a stencil on my Silhouette (check it off the list!) of a J and used a Sharpie to trace it onto the burlap and added some Sharpie stripes to the bottom using a ruler. Super easy and crazy cheap!

The front of our house needs a little lovin'. Don't worry....it's on a list somewhere! I'm ready for Spring so we can have some flowers to spruce the place up and make it look a little different than every.single.house in our neighborhood. Oh the military life! :)

You know I always have to share a picture of this sweet thing......

He just woke up from his nap and had to tote Clifford everywhere.....all while saying "Pup-pup" with that sad look on his face. Poor child is begging for a puppy....but with a Baby Sister coming soon, this Momma isn't giving in! We'll just have to make more frequent visits to Gma and Gpa Jarding's so he can love on Max. :)

Have a great day everyone! Drop me a line....I'd love to hear from you! :)

{be mine}

Happy Valentines Day!

This year, I had Kolbe help me make Valentines. Turns out he loves to paint. It was fun, and even though it is messy, we'll do it again. Nothing that a warm wash cloth or a bath can't fix. :) He made some cards Nanny and Papa, Gma and Gpa, and his cousins. I made a heart stencil by cutting it out and taping it to the front of the card and then just let him go to town with the paint. When he was done, I just pulled off the stencil, and there was a cute little hand painted heart left. Super easy!

For the next project I got a little smarter and bought some washable paint...DUH! :) No need to use a paint shirt and cover the whole highchair. It wiped right off of everything....Kolbe included. I have a stash of craft supplies that I have moved about a million times (probably 8 to be more accurate) and pulled this wood frame out of the stash and let Kolbe paint it for Mark.

{....totally mesmerized by the paint!!}

Then we got to go to Daddy's office for the first time to deliver the frame and some cinnamon rolls. The frame was cute....the cinnamon rolls may have been a little bit crunchy. In my defense, Kolbe figured out how to open my mascara and has obviously been watching me when I get ready because he knew exactly where it went. So I was a little preoccupied when the timer went off and didn't even hear it.

Kolbe is now sleeping all night - ALL BY HIMSELF - in his own bed. Wooohooo! A full night's sleep is just what this prego needs. :) We're working on the naps now. By the time he's a Big Brother, he'll be a pro at this sleeping thing....and can teach his Little Sister the ropes!

We had some snow here yesterday. Kolbe LOVES his $5 snow boots from Target....even if they are a few sizes too big. He got all bundled up to "help" Mark scoop snow. Too cute!

I've been working on a few major projects here. I hope to be finished by this weekend when we have company so I can share pictures with you. I know you're all dying to know what I'm going to cross off the list! :)

Hope you all had a great Valentines Day!

Much love,

Sara

{making progress}

First of all, yesterday was SO GREAT! I got to meet my friend Amanda for a quick dessert on her way through town, and then met up with Stef for supper. A little time away sure is good for a Momma! Old friends are the BEST! Last week, my friend Jen took me out for supper for my birthday. Life is so good! :)

Mark is off today and we went to the doctor. No new news, so that's good. Our due date is still June 10th and just in case you didn't hear...... It's a GIRL!

As far as getting things crossed off that dang list, this week was another rare one (I should just STOP PLANNING.....), but I've learned some things that I think will help with my "have to get everything done RIGHT.NOW. anxiety". Mark ended up getting the flu Saturday night and was sick all the way until Monday morning, and Kolbe still wasn't feeling too great, either. So there was no great "football food" at our house on Sunday night. :( I felt a little under the weather, but thanks to the Zofran I never got sick. I may ask if I can get a few refills for that for when I'm not pregnant. I hate getting sick and that stuff works like a charm! So with the boys both being sick, I felt like all I was doing was scrubbing everything with Clorox and doing laundry, but that's life. I did accomplish a few things that I planned on.

• I finally put some books on the bookshelf upstairs....and in turn got rid of one more box out of the garage. One down....twenty something to go!
• I finished painting my cupboard chalkboard. I'm not crazy about the color. I used what I bought to paint the shelves that are going into the laundry room. I though maybe I would incorporate that color into the kitchen somehow, but I just don't have the energy to redecorate, and I kind of like the red/orange/yellow/green look I've got going on in there. So everything in the turquoise color that I decided to paint last week will go in the laundry room. It could use some cheering up!

My husband is so smart....have I mentioned that? He's so level-headed and is so good for my impatient, anxious spirit. We were discussing my daily struggle to get everything done while Kolbe naps (more on sleeping in a bit) and he pointed out that I might be a little bit unrealistic when setting my goals for that day. So I went with it, and have a different outlook on things....and I feel better. I'm no longer trying to clean each day, I'm taking one hour each weekend to whip through this house and get it clean. It's attainable if Mark and Kolbe keep each other occupied, which I think it is important that they have some alone time, too. Little boys need that quality time with their daddies. :) So really, my goal for each day is to do one load of laundry...wash, dry, fold, put away. THEN I can have time to do the things I love, that make me happy, that keep me sane. Like, doing ONE of my million projects I have floating around in my head, or painting an old cupboard door into a chalk board, or stalking blogs, or reading a magazine. My good friend Stef really hit the nail on the head when she said, when you're a mom, you're working the whole day that your kids are awake (so say 12 hours) and it's ok to take a one hour break. Again, I ran with it. :) I feel less crabby. I feel like I spend more time playing with Kolbe knowing that he'll take a nap and I'll get my break. So there...this list maker is toning it down a bit. I know some of you are saying "I told you so!" It's ok. You were right. :)

We are sleep #2 of letting Kolbe cry it out. Last night I think he ended up out of his bed 3 times, and cried for more of the night than he slept, but we didn't sleep in his bed, and he didn't sleep in ours. Broke my heart, but this Momma needs some sleep! Today he went to sleep crying for his nap, but now he's out....and isn't he sooo precious??

Tomorrow we are headed to Wayne America (my old college stomping grounds!) to meet up with my sister Kelsie and her kids to cheer on her husband's basketball team. I told Mark I want to leave at the crack of dawn so we have the whole day to hang out. He's skeptical that we'll be able to find things to keep us busy in Wayne..... I'm not worried one bit. :) We're eating at the Max for lunch and I hope to be able to swing by The Coffee Shop for a treat and to look at their crafts.

This week I'm hoping Mark will have time to hang the shelves in the laundry room so I can organize that mess, and maybe if I'm real lucky, the one in the craft room, too. Other than that, I'm not planning what I'm going to cross off. This type A girl is going to roll with the punches. :)

Happy Weekend to you all.....Come back next week to see more things "crossed off". :)

I'll leave you with one last picture of Momma's helper cleaning his toys....

{not too productive}

I really had high hopes for these last couple days....didn't really turn out how I planned, though. Isn't that usually how it happens? Yesterday night Kolbe came down with the flu, so the last 24 hours have been filled with washing sheets and everything else in the house, and I haven't been feeling so hot myself. I do have one thing crossed off my list (but I'm not sure how to go in and edit it to "cross it off"....need to figure that out). Today when we remade our bed with clean sheets, I had Mark help me put the bed skirt on. Oh, and I also moved our junk to the sides of the garage so we could fit both cars so we're prepared for the storm. I'm not crossing off "Organizing the Garage" because it's far from organized. :) This weekend my goals are: decorate/fill the upstairs bookshelf, hang Kolbe's name on his wall and finish my cupboard chalkboard (I'll share a picture...I just need to figure out which color to paint the frame. Have I mentioned I'm bad at making decisions???)

Hope everyone has a productive or relaxing, whatever you're going for, weekend. :)

{welcome}

Hello Everyone! I've decided to start a blog for many reasons. For one, I'm new to staying at home. I always felt fulfilled with my job because I felt like at the end of the day or week or school year I had a way to gauge if I accomplished something. I had big plans for my days staying at home. Craft projects, a sparkling clean home with every.single.thing organized, gourmet meals planned and on the table when Mark got home, daily workouts, etc. I'm sure anyone who is reading this and has ever stayed home with a toddler are laughing. I had totally unrealistic expectations, and when it didn't go my way, I decided maybe just resorting to sitting on the couch wasn't that bad of an idea. Until my planner, type A personality started to get annoyed. So I made lists and goals and plans and a cleaning schedule and calendars and weekly menus.....for about a week. Then I was overwhelmed again. I'm going to use this blog to keep me accountable for crossing those things off of my "to do" list and as an ego booster for me to see the things I accomplish. Another reason for this blog is to share our lives with our friends and family who are far away. I've been inspired by my friends Stef and Jen to make my own blog and even designed it myself! I should put that on my list so I can cross something off already (I've been known to do that!). So go ahead....take a look at the list....and send any suggestions you have for quick, easy, inexpensive ways to cross things off my list!

Kolbe's up from his nap and we're going to the park. Remind me to put this on my list.... Enjoy each day with my babies! :)

...the {list}...

Topanga's To Do List

Get Kolbe to Sleep Through the Night

Finish Craft/Guest Room

Shelf

Hanging Wall Storage (IKEA look alike)

Organize Closet

Make Memory Box for Each Family Member

Cupboard Chalkboard

Laundry Room

Paint and Hang Shelves

Buy Rug

Gather Organizing Bins

Kolbe’s Baby Book

Picture Organization

Prints

Electronic

Recipe Binder

Garage Organization

Mother Teresa Subway Art

Growth Chart

Learn How To Make Reusable Stencil on Silhouette

Nursery

Paint Stool

Paint Orange Thing

Wall Décor

Run Another Half Marathon (May 2013)

Upstairs Bookshelf

Bed Skirt on Master Bed

Kolbe’s Room

Hang Letters

IKEA Spice Rack Bookshelves

Master Bedroom Closet